goslings

My friend Geoff caught me lumbering around the garden chased by the goslings.............off to the Flower Show Meeting now and then the Community Council open meeting!!!! should be fun!!!

Rick James - Super Freak

Two mugs of strong coffee and I am cleaning the kitchen like Kim Woodburn on speed......I am prancing around to this blast from MY past.......is it me but does Rick James look like a faded Donna Summer?

anyhow it certainly woke me up!

I need a snooze

I just cannot get going today. Last night I was caring for a a poorly but "awake" patient who constantly (for 12 and a half hours that is) tried to pull all her IV tubes, naso gastric tube, catheter, central line and invasive arterial lines out.
In one shift she managed to remove all but two of them!
Supervising a confused patient who is seriously ill, is a challenge to say the least and driving home, I was more weary as weary could be!
I fed the dogs, sorted out the animals and took the goslings into the front garden for their feed and promptly fell asleep on the grass ( still in my uniform)
I woke up after about half an hour after one of the farm hay wagons gave me a "beeb" as he turned the lane corner....both goslings were neatly tucked up under my chin as I lay on my side,all safe and warm.
I took the dogs for their walk, bought dog food and again fell asleep on the couch after checking my emails.....
The then had a choice...........clean the duck house out or mooch on the couch!! and for once in an absolute age I mooched on the couch and watched an old Audie Murphy movie The Guns of Fort Petticoat.
It was a cracking movie! -
"Murphy deserts the Union Army to warn former Texas neighbors of impending Indian attacks triggered by Army massacre. He overcomes initial distrust and convinces the homesteaders (all women whose men are away fighting in the Confederate Army) to take refuge in an abandoned mission. He trains them to fight and shoot in anticipation of the attack. Surrounded and outnumbered, the defenders prepare for the final assault.."
Mind you the movie' poster's tagline sums up the action much better...as it screams:
GOOD WOMEN...BAD WOMEN...BRAWLING WOMEN...BRAVE WOMEN! They were all soldiers in skirts!
Yeap I think you get the picture
off for a very strong coffee............Chris is working away again
I need a sleep

Spartacus and cauliflower overload

I am a sucker for an underdog. The stocky, deformed and most silent of the battery hens has just about won me over. I was resolved not to name any of these hens as they are earmarked for eating but this little chap, who has the look of John Mills in Ryan's Daughter , has been dealt so many bum deals at such an early age, I feel that it is only right that I give him a little bit of freedom!.......so it felt only right that he/she is called SPARTACUS

Anyhow enough of me being an overly soft puddin. I am working tonight, a shitty night to work but a computerised rota system has suddenly been introduced at work which starts the week on a Sunday not a Monday.........the long and short of all this..means that staff are working more weekends.........Chris will lock up the animals tonight but wont watch over the field I would do, With the last sighting of the fox over two weeks ago now, I hope things will be ok tonight.

My first major crop of cauliflower is ready. We have blanched and frozen a load, and tomorrow I will make soup to freeze. The slog of harvesting has started

The American President "End Titles"

I watched this movie last night and although I am not a fan of Michael Douglas..I found this bit of fluff and sweetness rather moving, thanks mainly to Annette Benning who was wonderfully sympathetic.

Loved the music too.

The Ghost hens improve

The power of home grown raspberries!
I dropped a couple outside the battery hens' house and after a few unsure steps, five of the youngsters tottered out on shaky big feet.
A small but intensely satisfying little victory

Barbarella and Hot Lips

Funny what you remember when you listen to music.
My last post (Cool and the Gang) got me to thinking about my CB days way back in 1980 (30 YEARS AGO!!!)
I shared an austin 1300 with my sister. It was a shitty brown/green colour, had furry seats and a 5 foot "whip" aerial which allowed me to use my trusty superstar 120 citizens band radio!


They were all the rage back then, and most geeks aged between 14 and 35 had one. At night the airwaves would be full of "1-9 FOR A COPY?" as saddos like me searched the ether for friends that you could chat to or even meet ( this was called rather bizarrely as an "eyeball")


Official and unofficial groups were formed by these CB'ers, and once a week the Prestatyn despots would troll down to a dive in Greenfield for a night's eyeballing complete with too much beer and individualized T shirts with our names ( or handles as they were known as) emblazoned upon them.


My handle was POCKETS! and yes even back in my teenage years I was slightly film obsessed!
as Pockets was the nickname of RED BUTTONS in the film HATARI....I was an unofficial member of the Prestatyn group of teen CB fanatics which consisted of BOGEY MAN and his sister SILVER FOX...., sisters RUSTY NUT and CHERRY BLOSSOM. GREEN GIANT, BLACK SHEEP ( a guy who was a lot older then we were and was,on reflection a bit of a sexual predator), his waspish wife SWEETIE PIE (! no comment) and various other hangers on with the dubious names such as PSYCHO, PONYTAIL , SHADY LADY (pronounced shady laaayyydeee),PEPPERMINT PATTY, SUPERTROUPER and RAMPANT BUDGIE (who was unfortunatly my massive GEEK of a cousin)....


On reflection our social group was fairly benign, but some of the younger girls could have been put a risk from the more full blooded members of the CB fraternity..I am only saying this on reflection as at the time we seemed to have lived in a safer more trusting time......nowadays I suspect that teenage girls would never be allowed the freedom that they had then ( humm mind you we never had the internet then either!!!)


Of course there were icons amid the CB community, those that had been established for months before we came on the scene! Two of these icons were the velvet tongued HOT LIPS and her sister BARBARELLA.

Every time these Talullah Bankhead sounding sex pots came on for a "copy" there was always a clamouring from the more desperate men who had been lying in wait for a hopeful chat or eyeball..... On the radio, I guess , like the internet the imagination can run wild!and with deep sexy and breathless voices even I would imagine that Hotlips and Barbarella ( Babs to her close friends!) were stunning blondes with legs up to their armpits.


LOL..I should have known better.....both girls lived "over the tracks" in Prestatyn and one fellow CB'er one day informed me that Bab's glamorous job as a beauty "technician" was in fact a part time job in a pet groomers..........when we all finally got to meet these two celebrities of the airwaves, we were slightly underwhelmed by the sight of a pair of grossly overweight, heavily made up teenage girls in grey sweat shirts with the words BABS and HOTLIPS undulating over their chests.

The craze lasted a year or so. We teenagers grew up and started work and University.... but it was fun when it lasted

Kool & The Gang - Celebration

love the foot work.....

got home after 8pm to find Janet and Ned (with George) in their car parked on the field watching out for Mr Fox...thank god for sisters!!

As I got the field locked up..this song blasted out across the fields.... and I realised that a party in memory of a popular local women was going on ! She died this time last year, and her huge family and close friends had got together to "celebrate" her life by music, games and plenty of beer!

It was lovely to hear the fun....and this song was a blast from my past.......reminds me of my friend Rol and his sister Nia.....and the CB days of tacky 1980 night clubs!

The Ghost Hens

It has been a bit of a rush this morning, I received a phone call from work desperate for me to do a day shift rather then a night shift tonight. I said I couldn't do the whole day but I could work the afternoon and early evening, so I am grabbing my morning coffee and blog before I sort the animals out then I will be off.
The battery hens are starting to take a little more interest in their surroundings after 48 hours TLC. They remain silent and still and are typical examples of the "frozen awareness" that you often see in abused animals and damaged children.
Last night I caught three of the little ones sat outside their run and this morning a couple of them shuffled their sad ways into the sunshine of the hen house door to take in the dawn sunshine.
Look closely on the hen on the right, her beak is completely crossed, giving her the look of someone with a cleft palate.
One hen remains very unsteady on her feet, and all still look hunched, frightened and unhappy.
The other hens on the field have found these strange little birds terrifying. From time to time several of them have crept up to the wire to give the strangers the once over, but look wary and unsure of the new hens...

Web cam

Its not a good look for a 48 year old is it?
A hoodie!!
I am on fox watch this evening and have just found out that the wireless broadband reaches the field!!!
so I am here typing out some blog comments and taking photos of myself with the web cam!..a neighbour has just called out
"well I've seen everything now! poultry and the internet"

My plan tonight is to watch the awful film The Presidio (some lovely shots of San Fransisco..I will enjoy recognising places we have been) and eat ALL of a salmon wellington from out of the freezer!.....bliss

Losing George

Yesterday I lost George.

Now If anyone here knows Scottish terriers, they will immediately know that this is an almost impossible thing to do.

They are loyal and obedient dogs that never stray far from their owners' heels, so when out on a walk when you look round there they will be looking right back at you.

Yesterday we walked the length of Gypsy lane, and quite suddenly George had literally disappeared. I called and called, thinking that he had gotten all excited over a fresh pile of droppings, but there was silence after my call... no !"arroooo!" of recognition, no bark of answer.

I retraced my steps....no George. I hurried back to the main road dragging the Welsh by their leads.....still no George.....then I ran back along the lane again....nothing......

I was beginning to get frantic. In four years George had never been out of my sight before let alone gone missing,,,,and with Maddie dying recently, I let the whole thing get right under my radar and I experienced that awful cold prickly sensation you get when dread takes over from objectivity

I called and called up and down the tracks and snickets, all to no avail, and was helped in my search by two women out for a walk. I then decided to race back to the cottage to get the car... and as we turned into the lane just by my field I heard the usual Scottie greeting "arrroooooo"

We turned and in an adjacent sheep field was George sat calmly by the stone style....somehow he had taken himself through three fields full of sheep, negotiated two wire pig fences and a style and had trotted all the way home .

I could have burst into tears! and realized quickly that I am rapidly turning into an old woman where my dogs are concerned.

Anyhow today, Chris has left early for Kent again. His Uncle is having a birthday party over the weekend and Chris has gone down to join in. I am working Saturday night, so its going to be a bit of a boring weekend for me.

I am still worried about the fox too, last night I relaxed "fox watch" just a little and spent some of the evening in the cottage....at 8ish the hens kicked up a huge fuss and I got out there only to find the three main flocks all tightly knit in their own groups calling loudly at some unseen menace beyond the fence. My arrival put paid to any further problems , but he's still out there lurking in the sidelines.

My sister will lock the hens up tomorrow night when I am at work, but I am worried that there wont be a human deterrent around the field for a while after I leave for work at 7pm......I will ask the neighbours if they would like an amble around the field after I go perhaps...

I am getting a little obsessional

ps My rants to the water board seem to have worked...two men arrived this morning and repaired the wall!!!

Un long dimanche de fiançailles

I felt a little out of sorts this evening so watched A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT......I think it is one of my top ten films of all time.....quite, quite beautiful...............moving, exciting and memorable.........if if watch it just for the incredible airship explosion, you wont be dissapointed.......

At last my wild flower border blooms

You have to look closely, but there they are! At last my wild flower border has started to bloom. Finally I can be called eco friendly.

Just checked on the battery chicks..between them they have eaten 2 large dog bowls of layers pellets

It's a crime

The six new fledglings are a sorry bunch.
This morning in the cold light of day, I gave them the once over.
Admittedly they are the "runts" that had been sidelined in an intensive farming enterprise but I was not quite prepared to see how sad and depressed these little ones were.
Two of the birds seem to be weak and lame, one has a deformed beak and another looks incredibly hunched, so after giving them a quick physical check I left them in the semi gloom of a spare hen house, with food, water ( with a little antibiotic in it) and warming sawdust
We will give them some space, peace and TLC and will see if they will survive.

I understand why intensive practices in farming occur, but like most people I dont really have the inclination or the opportunity to see what actually goes on behind those closed doors......today I have had a tiniest glimpse of how these little scraps of animals have been treated.

Trailer Trash respect & The Red Face Farmer saga

This afternoon the Welsh Water Tanker,driven by a contract driver side swiped the field wall. After checking the damage to his tanker (a broken back light) the driver drove away, then thought better of it after Ralph the gentleman farmer's wife took down the number of the wagon!

As I walked back up the lane with the registration number in my sweaty hand, the driver ambled towards me as though nothing drastic had happened He smiled broadly and made light of the accident stating that it was an accident. He was overly chummy and not at all sorry for the damage and kept calling me "mate!"

"I dont know what to do about this" he chirped swinging an over abundance of gold jewelry

"I do" I said coldly "I will be ringing Welsh water and I am NOT your mate!"

He looked hurt "It was only an accident" he explained and added " It looks as though the wall has been hit before...you dont have to act like that"

Is it me? or has it suddenly become acceptable not to show remorse for damage done in this way, or to overly show any sign of respect and acknowledgement for the hard work done by others? In this age of me, me me, I honestly think that certain members of our society just don't give a shit!!!

"It was an accident but an accident caused by your lack of care" I growled (gawd we are back at the supermarket story when I berated that woman for having an ugly fat baby!)

"Do you know that a chap from this village spent hours constructing this wall as a favour to the Church!!!.?"

It was useless to go on, the chap couldn't be arsed and to be honest nor could I. In silence I walked away and spent an exhausting 30 minutes on the phone being assertive with Welsh Water's complaints department!

You know the older I get the more angry I become

Chris went dancing with my sister this evening, while I got buttoned holed by the Red Faced Welsh Farmer by the field gate! I love hearing his stories of his life adventures! especially the more risque ones concerning his multiple jousts with bureaucracy.

After an hour and a half marathon, he sped away in his trusty red land rover to complete some deal or other, only to return with a gift of 6 small "eating hens" an hour later!

Thank goodness I had one spare chicken coop, so the battery hens were immediately installed with some feed and water.....I am glad I was in a position to give the rather battered group of youngsters a more natural home (well until we eat them!)

Time for bed now..it has been a long day!

Chris has just called down from the bedroom with the curt instructions "wash YOUR FEET! before you come to bed!!"
I have let myself go today!

Gosling update

The fox is still lurking around, of that I am sure, but after a week and a half since his attack, the field population remains intact and untouched.
My brother in law, Ned, who used to be a gamekeeper, gave me some sound advice about how to recognise if the fox ( or "Charlie" as Ned calls him) is around.
Last night around 8pm I noticed a couple of Magpies chattering above the heavy hedge which runs above the stream. They were slowly following the line of the water, jumping from tree to tree as they cackled loudly, and I remembered that Ned had said that this is typical behaviour of magpies following a fox. I called the hens in to feed, and took the dogs down to the hedge to sniff and wee........ and the danger passed......for now

On a brighter note ,the goslings are going from strength to strength. At 7.15 we sat in the garden for our usual morning constitutional. Me with my coffee, they with gobfulls of grass. Both babies are now around 12 inches tall, and are losing their needy insecure personalities. They are increasing in confidence and bluster, and now will take themselves off for a walk on their own, However, sometimes their nerves fail them and back they gallop to "MOMMY" for a cuddle and a warm.
Having babies that need me, pander to my ego I guess, they are so lovable

Today I need to get some more strimming done as the nettles and bindweed have put a strangle hold on the wild flower border I planted next to the stream........I got a compliment too for my roses in the front garden (above) this is the first year they have bloomed so well.

Here comes the rain again...........

....falling on my head like a memory......

We have had experienced heavy showers throughout the night!
This morning it is misty and noticeably colder and the air is heavy with fresh moisture It also feels that the allotment, garden and pasture land have all taken in a collective "gulp" of rejuvenating water, which I know will change the scorched yellow of the field to a more normal and comforting green.
At least I wont have to hump a dozen buckets of water across the field now to water the far vegetable patches.
I need to clean out the hen houses today and will lay rat poison down carefully beneath each one.. I have seen a couple of rats lurking around when I have been on fox watch, so will nip any problem that may develop in the bud.
The dogs are incredibly patient when I am pottering around doing household jobs. Meg will take up her usual position on the bedroom window seat, watching out for any interesting movements and spending her time smearing dog snot on the window.
Perhaps it is the slightly damp feel to the start of the day, but I will forgo my second cup of coffee of the day and will now take the lot down to the beach for a run

Happy Birthday Ann

Chris is away working in London again, which will probably mean a slight improvement in his hay fever and a corresponding improvement in his mood!

We have had a small amount of rain today ( I had to curb the urge to reenact that famous scene from The Shawshank Redemption..I was so happy).And the day has shot by in a blur of jobs,and normal routine.

It is also my Sister Ann's birthday today.

When my sister Janet and I were born, Ann was a teenager. As young as she was, Ann provided the warmth and stability for us when we were growing up, something that was subtly lacking from our slightly dysfunctional 1970 parents.

Always a matriarch (even then) it is Ann's small kindnesses and attention to detail that always stick in my memory of her when I was a child. Birthday gifts were always an event, play activities were light hearted and enjoyable and parties and get togethers were relaxed and comfortable. With Ann in charge the critical parenting that we were all so used to, was overwhelmed by a more encompassing sense of fun,and a morale boosting celebration of self.

To this day Ann retains this benign matriarchal persona. Ok we all now have a few more lines on our faces, and for me there is far too much grey in my beard, but essentially things have not really changed over nearly fifty years.

She has remained the mother figure that we never really had, by shaping and supporting those more positive facets of our personalities by her celebratory approach to us and the other members of our family. We are, I would always like to think, products of her optimism and warmth...........which are much more positive gifts than what our own mother could have given us

Happy Birthday

xx

A little Gem

Sometimes you can obtain pleasure from the strangest of things.....tonight was a case in point.... When on "fox watch" I listened to BBC 7's re playing of their production of Raymond Chandler's The High Window!
It was a cracking play full of those Chandler-esque quotes.......
This one was my favourites!
"From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away".
Isn't that cool?
If anyone has a chance read Eric's blog....
http://mountainrambler.blogspot.com/
It is as near Chandler as you will ever get!

Hot Sunday

The allotment is hanging on by a thread. We have had no rain now for a month now, and without the kindness of my neighbours' hosepipe most of my vegetables would have gone to seed and dust. The poppies I planted a few years ago are the only things that seem to do well in this drought, although veg such as my cabbage and cauliflowers have thrived....... Mind you a persistent black rock broke her way under the protective netting the other night and has stuffed her fat face with the delicate cabbage hearts! (below)

The buffs and chicks in their runs have had shade covers put on, and extra water during the hottest point of the day.......it is strange, that come midday, the field is all but deserted with clumps of hot hens lying out in shady corners and under bushes.